The Mayor introduced himself as Sir Clifford Fry, Duke of Rovrack. I nicknamed him Nervous Cliff (not to his face, of course), which I think more befitted his twitchy demeanor. As we sat down on the other side of his large, oak desk, his gaze shot from me, to the Doctor and Rose and then out of the window. He blinked too much and licked his lips every four seconds...oh yeah - he was scared all right.

The First Adventure Part 2

"I couldn't think who else to turn to," he began breathlessly, again shaking the Doctor's hand over the desk. "Thank you for coming. Really. Thanks so much..."

"Aye, aye," the Doctor said airily, waving his hand, "I ain't one to shirk me responsibilities, mate. I remember how ya saved me all them years ago, an' I repay me dues."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, las' time I met Clifford 'ere, he was a captain in the Malinus Armed Forces. 'Ad a bit of trouble with an insane giant squirrel, and I'd have been dinner if the Mayor hadn't turned up when he did."

"Aren't squirrels vegetarians?" Rose pointed out.

"This one weren't," the Doctor said, "anyhow, let's not worry too much about all that - I'm more interested in what's 'appenin' now. Clifford?"

The Mayor took a long, desperate sigh. "You want a drink?"

"No thanks." The Doctor replied.

"But I do." The Mayor said, reaching into a drawer underneath his desk. He pulled out a bottle of very blue liquid, that looked a little like mouthwash. He took a long gulp, straight from the bottle, and then offered it to the Doctor. "You sure?" The Doctor declined again.

"Ladies?" The Mayor said glumly, shaking the bottle at us. Rose too declined, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I took the bottle.

"Just a swig," the Doctor told me sternly, "that's wicked strong, that is - Martian alcohol."

I shrugged and took a gulp. My mouth exploded in a flurry of pain instantly. It tasted like mouthwash. Exactly like mouthwash. Was it mouthwash? No - mouthwash didn't make the room spin, nor did it turn your vision blurry. I swallowed, feeling it scald my throat as it went down. Just a sensation of course, it wasn't really burning me. But it sure felt like it was. I coughed violently, tears rolling down my cheeks. The Doctor laughed, and patted me hard on the back.

"Crikey Gonzalez!" I moaned, wiping my eyes. I passed the bottle at once back to the Mayor, who took another gulp. The liquid had no obvious effect on him. Blimey, what a tank. Or was I just a lightweight these days? My binge drinking days were well and truly behind me, after all.

"I think," the Doctor said delicately, prising the bottle from the Mayor's unsteady hand, "that the fine city of Rovrack deserves better than a drunken Mayor right now, Clifford. Come on - tell us what's going on here."

"Yeah, right." Clifford said. "Okay...well, I guess it started 'bout a month ago. That's forty-seven days, by the way. I know most planets have shorter months than that. But yeah, that was the first killing. Read about it in the paper...there was this guy. Major druggie. Criminal. All around drop out, pardon me for badmouthing the dead. Well, um...so he died. Long story short. Found ripped to shreds."

"Found where?" Rose asked.

"Some of him was still in his flat." The Mayor replied grimly. "But most of him was in the corridor outside his flat...but look - don't think me an uncaring man here - but criminals meet grisly ends all the time, don't they? So although the investigation turned up nothing at all, nobody thought much of it. Had be stolen drugs? Had he failed to repay his debts to dealers? Had he in fact been the aggressor? No answers were ever forthcoming, but nobody lost sleep on it. Happens all the time."

"But?" I asked, my mouth dry.

"But then it didn't stop," Cliff replied, "random people, all over the city. Found ripped to shreds. Found outdoors, in their own homes, in their cars, at work if they work nights, anywhere...found mutilated beyond belief. Always at night."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "How many?"

"Seventy-eight."

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed. "Seventy-eight? Cor blimey mate, why did you leave it so long to call me? Seventy-eight?"

"Because," Cliff said, "at first I thought - we all thought - that it was just some nutter doing it. A person. You popped into my head plenty, but...well you deal with monsters."

"I'd 'ave still come to help." the Doctor retorted.

"I know, I know...and on reflection, I should've called. I wish I had."

"So do I." the Doctor replied.

"Sure...do you know why I finally did? It's coz I saw for myself what was killing these people."

He reached again into his desk drawer and pulled out a disc - like a DVD, only green and smaller. "I'd like you to see it. Cam footage from a subway station downtown. Young woman got attacked...and the whole thing, including the killer, was caught on camera."

"Okay," the Doctor said, "how do we-"

Before he could finish the sentence, the Mayor popped the disk in the middle of his desk, and spoke clearly to it. "Give us the eyes." He said clearly. The disc at once lit up, and above it appeared a hologram image of a subway station. There was a time at the bottom left of the footage; 10929ZP Beta RX.

"Um..." I said.

"Late at night." The Doctor replied shortly. "Don't interrupt."

We watched as a young woman with blonde hair appeared on the platform (the station was a grey, brown colour, aside from the yellow safety line at the edge of the platform). She peered down into the darkened subway tunnel, evidently wondering if a train was coming anytime soon. Her movements were quick and juddery, and I realized that the footage was on fast-forward.

"Any moment now..." Clifford said, biting his nails.

Then, just like that, we saw it. A small figure, dressed in a brown coat and old cap, appeared on screen, rushing at the woman and - here, I shut my eyes - murdering her. When I peeped again, she was gone. Just a pile of blood and shredded flesh on the platform. There was no sign of her killer anywhere. But I'd seen enough. My flesh was creeping and I suddenly felt very cold. I rounded on the Doctor.

"That's impossible," I whispered, "how can that be?"

"I dunno," the Doctor replied, his eyes narrowing, "I honestly don't know Lyn...I killed it!"

"But that was it," Rose exclaimed, "that was the Whispering!"

"It can't be." I muttered.

"But it is!" Rose said. "You saw it! We all did!"

"You know it?" Clifford exclaimed. "What is it? Looks like a child, but there ain't no child alive what could do that to a person."

"It's the Whispering!" The Doctor replied. "But this is impossible...we killed it!"

"Looks like it." Clifford said sarcastically, snatching the bottle back from the Doctor and taking another huge gulp. "And what is the Whispering, dare I ask?"

"A predator." The Doctor said. "From another universe. That's all I know. It's deadly. An' it's clever - nobody knows what it really looks like. We see a kid, but that's just self-defence. Look cute, look defenceless, stay safe."

"Blimey." Cliff slurred. "And it's in my city! Can you stop it? Can you do anything?"

"I think so, yes." The Doctor said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "But I'll need some gear. You got labs here, Cliff? Science department perhaps?"

"Well sure," Cliff said hopefully, "in the opposite tower. Why? What d'you need?"

"One, I need me sonic spear back," the Doctor replied, "two, I need an 'andful of Dimension Traps made. They ain't hard if I set ya team along the right lines. Three, I need a map of the city, wi' all the murder scenes pinpointed. Four...er..."

"Yes?" Cliff urged.

"I need someone t' bring the Tardis 'ere..."

"Ahem," I coughed, "you said-"

"-I know what I said, Lyn." The Doctor said. "But no 'elping it really...just keep ya hands off it, Mr. Mayor. Deal?"

"Deal." The Mayor said at once. "Whatever it takes, Doc. Save my city. Do it."

"I will," the Doctor replied, "just as soon as ya stop callin' me Doc. It's Doctor, all right?"

"The Doctor is sensitive about his title," I explained, "he's got a complex. Ain't that right, Rosie?"

"Yep, for sure." Rose laughed, as the Doctor scoffed.

"Anyways..." he said slowly, "so these Dimension Traps. I'll set ya team onto it. And then when I've got me maps, I'm gonna put my frankly amazing brain to work, work out best spot to find it, and then...girls?"

"We catch us a monster!" I exclaimed. "Hopefully for real this time."

"Aye," the Doctor said, "hopefully so. Hopefully so. Now come on - let's get to work."

"What did I say about the "W" word?" I said sternly.

Nevertheless, to work we went...and before long, a plan came together, like it always did. A stupendously dangerous plan, mind you. Always that. But a plan nonetheless...

The Doctor's Diary, Entry 1963 Part 2

Well this is all a bit grim, really. Turns out to be the legendary "Whispering" entity behind the killings. Oh, for the days when I thought it was only that; a legend. But nah. It's as real as you and I, and twice as angry.

Gotta fairly good plan to deal with it though. Dimension Traps! They are fantastic things. Course, you gotta get within throwing range of the enemy to use them...but whatever. We'll give it a shot. Mayor Cliff has invited me and my new buddy back for shots of that blue stuff if we succeed. I'll pass, but happen she'll join him. Great. I'll be carrying her back to the Tardis at this rate...still, I promised her good times, so I guess I can't complain. Just so long as she doesn't hurl in my Tardis.

But that's all theoretical for now, of course. We might instead be killed.

Such is life.